De Blasio’s Pizza Eating Causes Stir on Staten Island

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, center, is pictured eating pizza at Goodfellas Pizza in Staten Island Friday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio took his seat at the head of the table and surveyed the cheesy options at Goodfella’s Brick Oven Pizza & Restaurant on Staten Island on Friday.

Then he picked up a knife and fork.

Photos of his choice to use cutlery created a stir on Twitter, but the new mayor defended his fussy (and some New Yorkers may say downright wrong) approach to the pie.

“In my ancestral homeland it is more typical to eat with a fork a knife. And so I’ve been in Italy a lot and I’ve picked up the habit for certain types of pizza,” said Mr. de Blasio, who was having a roundtable discussion with small business owners. “It had a lot on it.”

But New Yorkers may not forgive such a cheesy faux pas. Locals were outraged after Donald Trump and Sarah Palin famously went to Times Square in 2011 and picked up the same utensils for their slices.

“I often start with a knife and fork, but then I cross over to the American approach and pick it up when I go farther in to the pizza,” Mr de Blasio said. “It’s a very complicated approach but I like it.”

Goodfella’s pizza maker and co-owner Andrew Scudera said he had no problem with the mayor’s eating habits.

“We don’t care. Fork and knife is the best way, we make gourmet pizzas,” he said.

But co-owner Scot Cosentino didn’t entirely approve and said he thinks the mayor was just “trying to be polite.”

“We’ll talk to him on the side about that,” he joked. “All New Yorkers eat their pizza with their hands.”

Mr. de Blasio’s favorite slice of the day was the 2007 Las Vegas International Pizza Expo gourmet winner: the Smoking Goodfella’s Pizza, which includes smoked mozzarella, roasted red pepper cream sauce and sausage. The hungry mayor was in the process of trying to decide the best pizzeria in the borough — though he said he has many more to try before he picks a winner.

In October, Mr. de Blasio sampled Denino’s Pizzeria & Tavern. His warning on Friday to the pie makers: “I have to say, this competition situation is increasing with every bite. I hope they’re sweating at Denino’s right now.”

And lest Staten Islanders think they’re in the forgotten borough, Mr. de Blasio promised to come back any time “in a hurry” as long as pizza was involved.

Mr. Cosentino said he was no stranger to the attention. Former mayors Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg also enjoyed a pie at his shop.

Mr. Bloomberg only used a knife, he added.

“All the mayors love the pizza — it’s become a political stop,” he said.